The 6th Walpurgisnacht |
| Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 |
|
|
|
| Location: Daguanyuan Pavilion | |
Dante
|
<How's the taste? Said they brewed it with the tea leaves Xichun gave us. It's called Baihao Yinzhen... or something, I think?> |
Hong Lu
|
Mm~ It's a nice cup of tea that goes down easily. Not as good as Xiren's, though. |
|
Dante
|
<... Yeah?> |
| Cool wind of Daguanyuan blows under this pavilion. | |
| Now that we've survived another huge incident, I was planning to hold some consultation sessions with the Sinners like I always do. But... | |
| ... I wasn't sure when Mephistopheles was coming back, so I decided to conduct them outdoors. | |
| Well... a change of scenery can be nice from time to time. | |
|
Dante
|
<As much as I'd love to be a part of that discussion... this thing didn't come with a mouth.> |
|
Hong Lu
|
Ah... that must be a sore spot, Dante. |
|
Hong Lu
|
You've expressed that feeling before, remember? Whenever we were snacking together, you'd say things like that. |
|
Hong Lu
|
You gave up the complimentary food from the WARP train to Rodya too, and... hm, you must've been curious of its taste back then. |
|
Dante
|
<W-well, you know... it's not all that bad.> |
|
Hong Lu
|
I think I'd feel regret and sadness. It's kind of tragic, almost... |
| Ever since Hong Lu severed the cycle that bound the Hierarchs of Daguanyuan, and sealed the Xianren in their temple... | |
| ... he's been making a lot of expressions that I hadn't seen before. | |
| Moreover, lately, I've been getting the impression that he's actively been trying to express his feelings and thoughts, even for things his past self would have simply accepted as-is. | |
| Like an old dam breaking, its fresh spring water surging to freedom... | |
|
Hong Lu
|
I can't give you a mouth, but you can trust me to give you a very detailed explanation of flavors. So feel free to ask me any time~ |
|
Dante
|
<Yeah, thanks.> |
| And honestly, I think that's a good thing. Especially because, more so than anything, I could sense that Hong Lu was gently enjoying these moments. | |
| I think I can safely mark him down as experiencing 'very positive changes' in my consultation notes— | |
|
Hong Lu
|
Though I'm not sure if any of that'll get through to you... given that you probably don't even remember the taste of food anyway~ |
| ... let me change that to 'started on a path to achieving some very positive changes'. | |
Sinclair
|
E-excuse me! Manager! |
| That's when Sinclair suddenly rushed up to us on the pavilion. | |
|
Dante
|
<... What's going on?> |
|
Sinclair
|
I-I know you're in the middle of a consultation, but, uh... there's this huge, big as a house truck by the entrance that's... |
|
Sinclair
|
The point is, I think you might have to come see this! |
| Location: Daguanyuan Front Gates | |
Heathcliff
|
Oi, Clockhead. |
|
Dante
|
<Is that...?> |
| The truck was, indeed, massive—it certainly did live up to all the fuss Sinclair kicked up. But... | |
Gregor
|
Hyah... ain't that something, huh? |
| ... it didn't seem to me that the other Sinners were all that concerned about it. | |
|
Dante
|
<Is everything okay here...? Hope it's not another attack on Daguanyuan...> |
|
Heathcliff
|
Huh? Nah, it ain't. Well... we did suspect that at first, but it's all right. |
Ishmael
|
It's because no one on the bus knows how to observe. It's all about the details, get it? |
|
Ishmael
|
Look, it's right there. The company logo. |
|
Dante
|
<... Where?> |
|
Ishmael
|
Seriously? It's right there, in that corner over there. |
| Ishmael pointed at something on the vehicle, irritation clear in her voice. I stared really hard at whatever she was pointing at... | |
| ... and managed to find Limbus Company's logo painted on the bus. | |
| It was the size of a palm. | |
|
Ishmael
|
They were <i>this</i> close to chopping that truck into a million pieces when I pointed that out. |
|
Gregor
|
Gotta say, I'm impressed you even managed to make out what that is... Doesn't look like anything other than a smudge to me. I guess eyesight's really the first thing that goes with age. |
Rodion
|
I meaaaan~ it's kinda their fault for making it so small and inconspicuous, ya know? |
Saude
|
That's because it's not a public-facing vehicle. |
| Saude walked into our circle, dusting her hands and brushing past a few disgruntled words. | |
|
Saude
|
This is a research vehicle used by the LCE Department. You've used this once before, remember? |
Meursault
|
... Mm. Extrapolating from the material and the color of the truck's cover panel, it can be determined that it is the same transportation device used for the regular check-up. |
|
Saude
|
Right on. |
|
Saude
|
Ever since you used it safely to arrive at LCE, we've been using it to move the LCC base around. |
|
Heathcliff
|
... Hang on, does that mean that we were your guinea pigs? |
|
Saude
|
AND, guess what! Just today, when we opened the truck to transport a different team... |
|
Heathcliff
|
Oi, don't ignore me! |
| Instead of answering Heathcliff's question... | |
| Location: -1 | |
| ... Saude walked up to the truck and swung open its rear doors. | |
| Location: LCE Research Vehicle | |
| In it, we saw the same mess of machines we saw back then, and... | |
|
Dante
|
<Hey, this light...> |
| ... the now-familiar green light. | |
Faust
|
... I see. |
|
Faust
|
Saude, has there been any further modifications to this vehicle since then? |
|
Saude
|
Hm... well, I'm not certain on the details, but LCE's chief resear— |
|
Faust
|
Hohenheim. |
|
Saude
|
Yes, him. Are you two... well acquainted? |
|
Faust
|
Not very well. But I do make an effort to remember his minor yet numerous mistakes. |
| ... She sounds oddly happy. | |
|
Saude
|
Anyways, according to the research report he gave us, the vehicle's been modified to allow for universal use across other departments of Limbus Company. |
|
Saude
|
LCB's bus—Mephistopheles, right? The report said something about using the Backdoor of that bus as a reference to equip this vehicle with various functions. And... |
|
Faust
|
That explains why this phenomenon is taking place here... |
|
Faust
|
Walpurgis Night. |
Don Quixote
|
Yet... how is this possible when we sit not astride the bus seats? |
|
Faust
|
It is not a theoretical impossibility. |
|
Faust
|
Certain major parts of the technology forming its engine have been shared with Hohenheim; it is within the realm of possibility that the engine's influence may be transferred there as well. |
|
Faust
|
... However, the means by which it has affected this vehicle has to be studied. |
Yi Sang
|
It seems to comprehend our absence and the subsequent separation from the bus... |
|
Yi Sang
|
Could it, mayhap, be reacting to the presence of a Golden Bough...? |
|
Faust
|
At this moment, Mephistopheles is currently boarded by Vergilius, Charon, and various other members of LCCB including Pilot. Therefore... |
|
Faust
|
... if they have traveled far, your conjecture may be true. |
|
Faust
|
Or... There exists a flow that ensures our encounter with the Walpurgis Night regardless of the environment surrounding us... perhaps. |
| Faust talked to herself, staring pensively into the distance, before turning toward us again with mild resignation. | |
|
Faust
|
Lead the way, Dante. |
| Location: -1 | |
|
Faust
|
If it has found us, then it must rightly be observed. |
| Location: L Corp. HQ Hallway | |
|
Hong Lu
|
Aha, I knew it. It's the former L Corp.'s turn! |
|
Dante
|
<Huh? What do you mean "knew it"?> |
|
Hong Lu
|
Ah, Heathcliff opened up a betting pool about where our next Walpurgis Night location's going to be. |
|
Dante
|
<... A betting pool?> |
|
Heathcliff
|
Alright, alright! What'd I say? Pay up, ya gits. |
|
Sinclair
|
Nngh... you told me it was just about time the patterns changed! |
|
Rodion
|
No way... but it was just the right time to bet against the odds! |
|
Dante
|
<…….> |
| By the looks of it, the bet seemed to have been about whether this Walpurgis Night would take us to the Library or the Lobotomy Corp. Headquarters. | |
|
Dante
|
<Hey... something about this place seems a bit different from the other former L Corp. hallways we saw in the past. |
|
Don Quixote
|
Didst thou sense it as well, Manager Esquire? Hoh... 'tis familiar yet... unfamiliar, indeed. |
|
Yi Sang
|
A stage for a play, almost... |
|
Ishmael
|
Seems it's gotten wider, too... It's still the same long and narrow hallway, but it's slightly wider. |
|
Faust
|
While it is unknown as to how many days have passed in these Headquarters... |
|
Don Quixote
|
Mm? Prithee, repeat what you have said? |
|
Faust
|
Ah... no. This subject can be discussed later, when its veracity becomes clearer. |
|
Faust
|
Sharing the current circumstances of this place... |
| Location: L Corp. HQ Central Command Hallway | |
|
Faust
|
... We find ourselves at the Lobotomy Corp. Headquarters of a certain day... at its Central Command, to be exact. |
|
Faust
|
The very center of the middle layer. |
|
Ishmael
|
Then the ones we've visited so far must've been in the upper layer. |
|
Faust
|
Correct. It is said that the departments of Lobotomy Corporation Headquarters were progressively unlocked with the passage of time. |
Outis
|
... Hm. According to the reports, when the Headquaters crumbled and fired that skyward light, it was... |
|
Faust
|
... Indeed. It appears that with every visit, we find ourselves at a further point in time here. As soon as the current 'day' can be pinpointed... |
|
Outis
|
... we might even be able to experience that day. |
|
Faust
|
Perhaps. Then— |
| BEEP—BEEP—BEEP— | |
|
Gregor
|
Well... that didn't take long. We're here to take care of some 'Ordeal' or something again, aren't we? |
|
Ishmael
|
Hey, I'm not complaining. We've kind of been loafing around and doing nothing while Jia Xichun left for that grand conference to decide the future of Daguanyuan or something. |
|
Outis
|
Tsk, but we have so little time... I must prepare a more intense training regimen to make up for lost time. |
Ryoshu
|
Whichever it is... heh. It'll be F.U.N. |
???
|
What's everyone waffling on about? |
|
Rodion
|
Cue the Sephirah... It's an angry one this time. |
|
Tiphereth
|
Yeah! What, did you expect some other voice speaking through the Central Command PA system other than Tiphereth's? |
|
Tiphereth
|
Tiphereth, the employees are confused. Please explain the situation to them. |
|
Rodion
|
Huh...? There's two of them? |
|
Tiphereth
|
Yes, I'm also Tiphereth. |
|
Faust
|
The Central Command, unlike other departments, boasts a rather significant size; it is large enough to have to be managed in two areas: A and B. It is said that this is why they have two separate Sephirot managing this department. |
|
Tiphereth
|
Yeah, and it's a lot, even between the both of us... Which is why it's up to you to be more thorough! |
|
Heathcliff
|
Yeah, yeah... bring out the Ordeal already. What are we destroyin' this time? |
|
Tiphereth
|
Like I said, what are you all waffling on about?! |
|
Tiphereth
|
There's been an Abnormality containment breach...! The whole company's about to go belly-up because everyone else is off trying to suppress the mess on the other side! |
| Then, the alarm that was blaring all throughout the company suddenly went quiet... | |
|
Tiphereth
|
... Oh no. The Second Warning. |
|
Tiphereth
|
Ugh... Great, look what you did, you bunch of slackers! Get to our headquarters, now! Deal with the blue entity! |
|
|
|
| Location: L Corp. HQ Central Command | |
|
Gregor
|
Ah... tsk, this one's uh... this one's kinda elaborate, huh. |
|
Sinclair
|
Her floating swords are... so... hard to parry. It's got such a long reach, and it's so thin that I can hardly see where it's— aagh! |
| As if to prove Sinclair's words, the azure Abnormality fired another volley of thrusting swords in our direction. | |
| Just as we braced... | |
???
|
Hiyah! |
| ... rays of pink light coalesced before Sinclair, materializing... before someone rushed onto the scene and parried away the flying swords. | |
|
Tiphereth
|
Haah... her again? Leaping right into the action the moment the Second Warning goes off... |
|
Sinclair
|
Huh...? You're...? |
|
???
|
Sorry I'm late. |
|
Magical Girl?
|
Here comes~ Magical Girl! |
|
|
|
| Location: L Corp. HQ Central Command | |
|
Magical Girl
|
Puff... puff... |
|
Magical Girl
|
I feel so bad, but... she won't be a threat to you, now. |
|
Don Quixote
|
Uh... |
|
Magical Girl
|
Hmm? |
|
Don Quixote
|
Art thou... verily, a... veritable Magical... Maiden? |
|
Magical Girl
|
Heh, of course I am~ I'm a Magical Girl, fighting to vanquish these evil Arcana! |
|
Don Quixote
|
<i>UOOOOOHHHHH!!!</i> |
|
Don Quixote
|
T-then this 'magic' in the legendary codices does exist, for truth? A-and thy most fashionable cos-tume must be, forsooth, to gather the magical powers— |
|
Faust
|
Don Quixote. Calm yourself. |
|
Magical Girl
|
Huh? Where are you guys going~? |
| Faust somehow managed to precisely snatch Don Quixote's wildly flapping arms mid-motion and dragged her away from the 'Magical Girl' and back to our group. | |
|
Don Quixote
|
W-wherefore didst thou drag me from this consultation of great significance? I have mountains of questions to ask her— |
|
Faust
|
That thing is no 'Magical Girl'. |
|
Don Quixote
|
What is with thy conspiratorily low voice, and this— hoh? |
|
Faust
|
O-01-04, Risk Level WAW. It is a veritable Abnormality... dubbed 'The Queen of Hatred' for recording purposes. |
|
Don Quixote
|
Fie...?! T-that maiden there is an Abnormality?! Yet she speaketh, and... appeareth just like a human. |
|
Don Quixote
|
And to label someone whose sheer appearance exudes justice, Queen of <i>Hatred</i>...? |
|
Faust
|
I believe that it has been impressed upon you many times in the past that Abnormalities should not be judged by their exteriors. |
|
Faust
|
... Indeed, they possess the sense of self; they think, and they feel. |
|
Faust
|
Perhaps, by the Head's standards, they may meet the criteria of what is considered a human. |
|
Faust
|
However, that is... an Abnormality, no more, no less. |
| We slowly turn around to look at the blue-haired... thing, compelled by Faust's stern tone. | |
|
The Queen of Hatred
|
Hm~ Hm hm~ |
| But it was just there, humming a light tune, swinging that staff around... | |
|
Dante
|
<... Oh, the lights.> |
|
The Queen of Hatred
|
Wonderful~ Looks like I managed to protect the peace once again! |
| And when the red lights turned off, and the alarm stopped blaring in our ears... | |
| ... it puffed away with the same pink swirl of light she first appeared with. | |
|
Tiphereth
|
Phew... this is annoying. Why did that Abnormality have to be contained at our department? |
|
Tiphereth
|
It couldn't be helped, Tiphereth. Not even the manager knows which Abnormality will appear at the Headquarters. |
|
Tiphereth
|
... Yeah, that's true. |
|
Tiphereth
|
But she just gets on my nerves, you know? Always showing up at the tail end of a huge mess like the Second Warning, barely doing anything to help, leaving the scene like she did something... |
|
Tiphereth
|
... And you know how she completely loses it unless we baby her all the time, right? |
|
Tiphereth
|
Tiphereth? The mic is still on. |
|
Tiphereth
|
Yeah, so? Let them listen! The employees have to know, that this— |
| <i>Bzzt.</i> | |
|
Dante
|
<... Abnormality is still an Abnormality at the end of the day, I guess.> |
|
Yi Sang
|
Her management appears to be quite the source of stress, it seems... |
|
Don Quixote
|
Yet aught is odd here! The maiden hath assisted us dearly in our battle, did she not? To suggest that she is hardly of any help is preposterous! |
|
Faust
|
Please review this document. It is a consolidation of management reports for that Abnormality from the former L Corp. Fortunately, it seems that an extended period of management experience has left quite a detailed report behind. |
|
Don Quixote
|
Hup... |
|
Gregor
|
Oh, damn... |
|
Ishmael
|
She wasn't kidding about having to baby this one, huh... |
| The Sinners' expressions all start to turn rather sour the further they read along the report. | |
|
Dante
|
<I skimmed through it, and... looks like she's got this compulsive obsession that she always has to be on the side of justice.> |
|
Rodion
|
She grows more and more 'hysterical' the longer a peaceful period lasts…? What is her problem...? |
|
Heathcliff
|
Got anything to say to that, O great scholar of Fixers? |
|
Don Quixote
|
... Ahem. Indeed, 'tis quite... different from what I anticipated. |
|
Faust
|
As fortune should have it, we did not encounter the mutated form of the Queen of Hatred today. |
|
Faust
|
However, as they also possess such a thing as psychological stability, or... 'Sanity'... |
|
Faust
|
... it seems that employees assigned to this Abnormality had the responsibility to keep it at higher levels at all times. |
|
Outis
|
It cannot have been... easy to put up with humoring a monster in human skin. |
|
Faust
|
... At least 'humoring them' is the extent of the required effort at this point. |
|
Outis
|
Hm? |
|
Meursault
|
You are implying that the management of Abnormalities entail something far more complicated than simply calibrating their sanity at a reasonable level. |
|
Faust
|
Yes, that is correct. |
|
Faust
|
It seems that this Headquarters is yet to extract a larger quantity of Abnormalities. |
|
Yi Sang
|
A moment, if you will. To say that they extract... |
| Yi Sang furrowed his brows and started, noticing a strangeness in her choice of words, but... | |
| Location: LCE Research Vehicle | |
| ... we already found ourselves returned to the mess of machinery that was LCE's vehicle. | |
|
Faust
|
... Ah, it seems that this is where this 'scenario' ends. |
|
Faust
|
Dante. As there may be further information that can be garnered from this experience, repeated visits to this Walpurgis Night is also recommended. |
|
Dante
|
<... Okay, got it.> |
| Yi Sang approached Faust to continue his earlier question, but Faust only shook her head in response, as if to say... | |
| ... that she wasn't certain, or... that she couldn't tell him just yet. | |
| To me, someone who doesn't even know what's going on with the company they're working for, all these stories from the former L Corp. and the Library are filled with nothing but confusing mysteries. | |
| But... something about it makes me feel as though everything that happened in those two places are at once foundations and clues to what we are going through. | |
| Maybe... maybe I can even use these moments to understand the stories I've forgotten, the purpose of this company I work for. | |
| So... | |
|
Dante
|
<Well, who's up for a second run?> |
| Let's, like Faust, focus on looking for those clues left behind. | |